That is correct. Based upon the number of posters that want advice on buying a $10k blue water boat to sail around the world with no experience, it isn't hard to imagine insurance being tough for many. There are equally as many experienced sailors who have never done an overnight passage.

My comment above was a reply to a suggestion that many abandon their boat, since insurance will just pay for it. I maintain that many or even most dont carry insurance on blue water international voyages. Some by choice, many/most because they or their boat do not meet underwriting standards.

In preparation for deployment to Vietnam we were asked to climb a cargo net suspended from a platform on land. One fellow broke his prosthetic leg in the climb. (LSS) Point is that it is a lot harder to climb those nets than you would think. When survivors are having a hard time climbing, they deserve our consideration.
Smack: practice climbing a cargo net might be part of the training you are working on.

In preparation for deployment to Vietnam we were asked to climb a cargo net suspended from a platform on land. One fellow broke his prosthetic leg in the climb. (LSS) Point is that it is a lot harder to climb those nets than you would think. When survivors are having a hard time climbing, they deserve our consideration.
Smack: practice climbing a cargo net might be part of the training you are working on.

Great feedback. Thanks don.

I'm in contact with a few of the USCG guys in charge of AMVER, a couple of master mariner captains, as well as the people working on the new ISAF regs edition - and am getting some great info.

Okay - I just fired off an email to Gary Jobson. I'll let you guys know if/when I hear back.

(Doug - get back on here and start laying out your vision dude! Otherwise, we're going to run with it!)

Ok.... Doug here..... (while happily floating in our 1986 CT 56 Tai Chiao in Boston Harbor)..... the theme of this thread is VERY IMPORTANT for anyone trying to sail very far offshore: Be prepared to direct your rescue!

1. Do not call for a rescue unless you are REALLY sinking, or dying.

2. Before #1, do NOT try to sail a long time offshore unless you REALLY have the crew ready to do it. This generally disqualifies a husband and wife team.
The rigors of 24 X 7 X 30 + days? of life threatening physical efforts are too much for most people. This effort will drain you both to the point that you are quickly no longer able to handle what you could normally handle successfully. So, have a total crew of at least 4 people for a roughly 50 footer. Even then, this will be a serious challenge, so make sure this crew is comprised of strong, able, capable, experienced people.

3. If you are sinking or someone is dying, and have chosen to abandon ship, be aware that the transfer of people from a pleasure craft to a large freighter / tanker is a very dangerous undertaking. VERY DANGEROUS.
Which is again why you MUST comply with #1, because abandoning ship and transferring to a big mother of a vessel, can EASILY kill you.
So..... here you go:

A. Since you can not transfer from your boat directly to the rescue vessel, (because your boat will probably be smashed to pieces and easily squish you), the better idea is to transfer to something more mobile, and ideally rubber / pliable, like a dinghy, a life pod, or as many life preservers as you can put together. Your goal is to create a new boat, but one which will not be destroyed by colliding with the freighter / tanker /rescue boat.
Bring paddles, bring any communication devices you might have - portable VHF, or a SAT phone; flares, water, cigarettes... ( just in case you are addicted, to be prepared for hours of floating / drifting), if you can, in the order I have listed.

B. Communicate with the rescue vessel about your plan to abandon ship by transferring to your dinghy or Life pod or life preserver barge and would appreciate it if they would approach you such that you are DOWNWIND of them. You want to be downwind, since they will block the wind, which will facilitate them throwing life buoys to you as opposed to them trying to throw life buoys INTO the wind!

C. Get into your transfer vessel, and caste off from your sinking boat.

D. Keep in communication with your rescuer, and using your paddle(s) help to position yourself to be able to catch the buoy they throw at you.

E. Be patient, stay calm, stay warm, stay ONBOARD your new boat until you really have a secure line secured to you to pull yourself & crew onboard / up to their deck.

The concept that the rescuer should be downwind of you is invalid, since the wind will not blow you to them unless they will REALLY come to a complete STOP in the water - otherwise, they will go right past you well before you can get to them. Believe me, that is true.

The worst thing which can happen is that you end up in the water. That is why you want to leave your sinking vessel by transferring to something you have which will float and will be pliable, i.e., a RIBBY, a dinghy, a lifepod, or ALL of your life preservers TIED TOGETHER.

Direct your rescue. It is MOST important to you, not your rescuer, keep that in mind. :-)

Grateful for their rescue despite being in the water for 90 minutes and their rescuer crushing and sinking their boat.

It restores my faith in humanity.

Sadly, the link you published here is no longer valid.

However, in our case, the rescuer instructed us to sit back and let them handle it.... then they nearly killed us.

Granted we should not have called for "assistance", but it shouldn't have been so badly mishandled - thus the value of this thread!

I was in the water, frequently sinking until I vomited to regain buoyancy, for over 4 hours.
The rescuer approached me each and every single time with me being on their windward side - which caused their throwing of buoys to be ludicrous since they were only blown right back at them. I was screaming at them for hours to come to me on the other side.....
They refused to deploy their lifeboats to pluck me out of the ocean, because the retrieval of it via cables was impossible due to the 10 foot waves - but it could have been towed until it was possible to retrieve it.
Which again supports the concept of this thread, that WE have to direct our rescue. The rescuers do not want to expose themselves to danger.

We are grateful for our rescue, which mostly occurred even though it was as mishandled about as much as could be.... thank God, and the fight to live.

As far as any faith in humanity, if (God forbid) you are ever drowning in the ocean, but can see 2 lifeboats remaining on the deck of your "rescuer" - throughout the most horrendous and traumatic event of your life - only then will you be in any position to quantify any "faith in humanity".

However, in our case, the rescuer instructed us to sit back and let them handle it.... then they nearly killed us.

.......

Why are you resurrecting an old thread to start this over again? We are all glad you survived and we learned something from your ordeal. Indeed, one may be able to better direct their own rescue. However, your rescuers have zero obligation to comply with your instructions and owed you nothing. Many feel your lack of gratitude is distasteful.

Why are you resurrecting an old thread to start this over again? We are all glad you survived and we learned something from your ordeal. Indeed, one may be able to better direct their own rescue. However, your rescuers have zero obligation to comply with your instructions and owed you nothing. Many feel your lack of gratitude is distasteful.

What I just did was provide my experience toward the subject matter of this thread: What and how to direct your own rescue.

Pointing out that the rescuers are not "obligated" to utilize all of their equipment toward a rescue, with my experience, is useful toward this goal.

This should be seen as proof of that which many people might not believe, as I found very hard to believe and accept myself.

This is not a matter of "gratitude", it is a matter of experience being applied toward future preparation on all levels. Avoiding this knowledge by calling it "distasteful" is counter productive. Though someone might not want to hear this experience, or might want to rationalize it, is outweighed by the value of dealing with it head on.

I did not direct our rescue, and experienced the ramifications of that. This thread's purpose is to enlighten someone else so that they will not depend upon the grace of God and or their own ability to fight for their lives, when their "rescuers" do as mine did; i.e., only what did not place them into harm's way.

Not everyone knows this as well as you might; I know I didn't. This thread's greatest value is to impart that knowledge into people's bone marrow, so deeply, that they do not sit back when their "rescuer" says they can and leave their lives in their hands.....

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